Verily, those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah’ and further stand straight and steadfast, the angels descend on them (from time to time), saying, ‘Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise that you have been promised’. (Q.41:30)

Say: ‘O Allah! Lord of Power (and Rule), You give power to whom You wish, and You strip off power from whom You wish: You endow with honour whom You wish, and You bring low whom You wish. In Your hand is all good. Verily, over all things You have power.’ (Q.3:26)

(Those) who, in case We establish them in the earth, keep up the prayer, and bring the Zakah (i.e., pay the poor-dues) and command beneficence and forbid malfeasance; and to Allah belongs the end of the Commands. (Q.22:41)

In appreciation of the Almighty Allah for His boundless favours on Nigeria through Your Excellency and acknowledgement of His honour in making your re-election a success, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its President-General, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR,mni, congratulates you on your electoral victory and wishes you another successful tenure as President of our beloved country.

As Your Excellency is aware, you are a pride not only to us as an Ummah but also the entire black race by virtue of your unique personality and immense qualities which have endeared you to millions of minds, including those of us in the Council and our affiliate bodies. It is a sign of walaayah (friendship) with Allah that a person’s love is planted in the hearts of people.

You are a refreshing source of inspiration to many people all over the world as a symbol of unimpeachable character, transparent honesty, unimpregnable integrity and unassailable righteousness. As Allah says in the Glorious Qu’ran, “is there any reward for good other than good?” (Q55:66), Nigerians in their overwhelming majority have rewarded Your Excellency’s goodness with a vote of confidence in you through the last February 23 presidential election.

We have no doubt that you are aware that leadership is a trust and that as Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, every shepherd (leader) will be asked about his flock (followers); yet, we must enjoin you to continue to do your best in the interest of the country. We urge you to continue to be fair and firm in leading Nigeria to where she deserves, despite the unfounded blackmail and character assassination by those whose pre-occupation is to eliminate Muslims and Islam from the public space in order to continue to use religion to exploit and extort gullible individuals. We urge you to be wary of hypocritical do-gooders contriving a non-existent tension for relevance when indeed by their partisan pre-election activities, they cannot genuinely lay claim to neutrality and sincerity.

Our prayer is that the Almighty Allah continue to grant you good health, long life and divine wisdom to steer the ship of Nigeria to the shore of greatness in peace, development, security and decorum. We also beseech Him to continue to guide and guard you in the discharge of your onerous duties so that you will remain a pre-eminent role model that you are for all incorruptible persons.

As a matter of responsibility, we shall continue to pray for Your Excellency’s success because your success is unequivocally the collective glory of all sincere lovers of God irrespective of their religious or ethnic persuasion.

On behalf of the President-General and the entire Nigerian Muslim Ummah, please accept the assurances of the Council’s highest regard.